A Journey of a Thousand Miles
by Hoplite308
Summary: A young Pokémon trainer with a family history of greatness and his friends set off on the journey of a lifetime. Takes place in our world, also known as the world of A New Master's Quest. Starts shortly before the advent of the 5th Generation. Used by permission of HandsOfFate. Rated T for language and Pokémon-style violence.
1. Begins With a Single Step

This is my third fic, my first Pokémon story, and my first in someone else's world. If you have been following HandsOfFate's A New Master's Quest (read it twice it was so good), then you will know the main storyline behind the fifth generation. I decided to explore the viewpoint of an up-and-coming trainer during that time who had no involvement whatsoever with Earth-shattering events. If you haven't read A New Master's Quest and the sequel A New Master's Quest: The Elite Four Challenge, I highly recommend that you do. You won't be lost, par se, but you will be missing a good chunk of the backstory. Did change a few things related to status effects (don't throw a hissy fit, they all have reasons) that may or may not have changed scenes in the original, but other than that everything is NMQ cannon. Starts the December before the 5th Generation began at around the same time as Vanessa was leaving the group in NMQ.

* * *

Burson, California

Graduation had come and gone, along with summer and a semester at the local college. The idea was that I'd get my general ed stuff out of the way and transfer to a bigger school for my bachelor's. Honestly, I hated it and still hadn't figured out what to do for a major. The two classes I did enjoy were Pokémon Battle Theory 101, which I aced, and Pokémon History 101, which I also aced, but any classes of the kind beyond that required me to have a Pokémon of my own.

Then, Mom and Dad gave me a slightly late Christmas present. Well, more like Dad did without Mom knowing until it was too late because she would never allow it. She had been a pretty good trainer in her time, but for some reason she was opposed to the idea of me becoming a trainer. My dad had also been a powerful trainer, but he was very much _for_ me getting a Pokémon. He and I had argued with Mom probably _hundreds_ of times, but she always told both of us that she "didn't want me to get hurt" or some other such crap.

"Hey Kyle," Dad said as we were eating the leftovers from our feast, "I think it's about time I gave you this." He pulled out a small box.

"Honey, what is that?" asked Mom.

He smiled. "Oh, just one more present. It's a lot like what I got when I was twelve."

That's when mom got really angry. "Norman, we talked about this!"

"It's his decision to take it or not. He's an adult, and much more responsible than I was at his age, so I trust him with this, even if you don't."

"With what?" asked my little brother Devon, classically with his mouth full.

I pulled off the bow and opened the box. I held up its contents. It was a little red and white ball with a button. "With this," I said. I smiled at the sight of the Pokéball. "This sure beats battling Spring and Shiny." Spring and Shiny were our pet Glameow and Meowth that Mom had barely let into the house to satisfy our desire for Pokémon.

Mom's face turned almost as red as her hair, and that was saying something. Back when she had been a gym leader, she had been known for three things: Water Pokémon, skimpy second-hand bathing suits, and _really_ red hair. "_You WHAT?!_" Mom almost shouted.

I laughed. "Just kidding. I won't say I didn't try, though."

"_Meow!_" said the two cats with one voice. Who'd have thought that having two cat Pokémon with "meow" in their name would allow that?

"Norman Turner, how could you do this behind my back?" Mom glared at Dad.

He shrugged. "Would you have said yes if I asked?"

"No!"

Dad chuckled. "Too late now." Then he turned to me. "Well, c'mon. Check it out!"

I pressed the button that made the Pokéball bigger and tossed it across the room. It landed and opened in a burst of light. "Torchic," said the Pokémon inside.

I knew Torchic's capabilities by heart. Not only had they been taught in Battle Theory, Blaziken, Torchic's most evolved form, was easily my favorite Pokémon, followed at a short distance by Abomasnow. Sorry, but those two are way too badass.

Mom almost seemed to wilt with relief. "Well, at least it's just a Flying-type. I would have been worried if it was a Fire-type. Besides, it's way too cute to be a good battler!"

"Torch?" it said, quizzically.

I looked at Dad and Jenna. They looked at me and each other. Then we looked at Torchic. Then we looked at Mom. She was still looking at Torchic. We each put one finger over our mouths and looked at each other. "So, Dad," I began. "Where's a good place for us to train?"

He smiled. "You might try Lake Hogan. You know the cove where we used to go fishing? That would be enough room to train."

Mom looked at him. "If it's a Flying-type, why can't you train here?" she asked.

"Because not all birds can fly," I said, thinking quickly. "Torchic uses… other moves."

She seemed to accept this and I moved on. All of a sudden, I wondered if her time spent campaigning against Fire-type Pokémon had made her forget a lot of the things that she had learned about them. Particularly, everything about the cute ones. "After dinner, I'll head over to Jacob's house. He'll want to meet Torchic," I told Dad. Jacob had had his own Pokémon for a few years, but never gotten serious about training.

"That's fine," he said. "And why don't you check out the pantry, top shelf. There should be some Pokémon food just right for… um… bird Pokémon."

I did and found some dried Rawst Berries. I took them down and gave them to Torchic. When Mom started doing dishes, I whispered to Torchic. "Don't use your Fire-type moves around Mom. She's not the biggest fan of Fire-types."

Torchic winked in understanding. "Chic," it said confidentially.

I smiled at him and picked him up, putting his Pokéball in my pocket. Somehow, I just knew that he and I would be great friends. After putting him on my shoulder, I grabbed my jacket and left the house. When I got to my car, I buckled Torchic into the passenger seat. I pulled out of the barn (yes, I park my car in a barn) and started the five minute drive to Jacob's house. Really, he just lived four houses away from me, but in Burson, everyone has a 5-acre lot, and I had to drive around all four to get to his house. When I pulled in, I saw his family sitting around the living room, just talking. Their Pokémon were sitting around too. They heard me pull in, and Jacob came out to greet me.

"Sup bra?"

I guess I forgot to mention that Jacob grew up in Hawaii before moving to California.

"Oh, just bringing over a new friend for you to meet."

"Sick!" he said, trying to look through the windows of my car. "Uh, where's the girl?"

I just laughed. Then I went around to the passenger side and opened the door. After unbuckling Torchic, I put him on my shoulder.

"Try Pokémon," I said. Jacob's jaw dropped.

"Whoa! Since when does your old lady let her son get a Fire-type, man?"

I laughed. "Good one! Don't tell her Torchic isn't a Flying-type."

"WHAT?! Dude! I can't believe your mom fell for that!"

I laughed too. "I didn't tell her anything! She was all like 'Oh my gosh I'm so glad it's not a Fire-type and oh my gosh it's so cute!'"

Even Torchic was laughing now. "Wow, bra, wow," said Jacob after we had calmed down. "So, you up for a battle?"

I shook my head, "Nah, Torchic is still pretty young. I'd prefer to get some training under his belt before I start battling him."

Jacob shrugged. "Whatever, man. Hey, wanna' come inside?"

"Sure, let's go."

I went inside and was immediately floored by Jacob's family's Persian. It started licking my face like crazy. "Ah! Mr. Snuggles, get off of me!"

"Okay, Snuggles, that's enough," said Jacob. Finally, the Persian got off, but not before it had completely washed my face.

"Dude," I said when I got up, "why does that always happen to me?"

He laughed a little. "Well, I guess you're a Pokémon person!"

I laughed back. Just then, his mom came out of the living room. "Kyle!" said his mom. "Welcome!"

"It's nice to see you too, Mrs. Johnson," I said, "but I think Snuggles already gave me a welcome."

She laughed. "Well, he usually does!" she said brightly. "And is that Torchic yours?"

"Yes ma'am," I said. "Just don't tell my mom he's a Fire-type.

She laughed and said she wouldn't. She knew of my mom's paranoia of Fire-types, and why. Some Fire-types that had flames on the outside of their bodies had once set fire to Mom's gym. Torchic, thankfully, didn't, so it wasn't a huge deal.

"Kip!" Jacob's Mudkip came down the stairs. It was friendly enough, but not if it saw you as a threat to its dominance. Truth be told, it had actually been known to smack around Mr. Snuggles. Right now, it was deciding whether or not Torchic was a threat.

"Chic chic!" Torchic chirped, flapping its tiny wings happily at the other Pokémon.

Mudkip came all the way down the stairs and started conversing with Torchic. Eventually, it seemed to relax.

"Well, it's nice to see those two getting along so well together," said Jacob's mom. Then she turned to me. "Are you going to be entering the New Years County Pokémon Tournament next week?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe, but you need at least three Pokémon to enter."

"C'mon, man," said Jacob. "I'll loan you the Pokéballs, you can pay me back later. It'll be fun!"

I shrugged. "Well, all right."

"Sweet! Up top!" he gave me a high-five. "Hey, and then, we can take the League Challenge!"

"Whoa there cowboy, who said anything about that?"

"C'mon man, I've been waiting for this opportunity for a long time! Don't turn me down like this." He put on his sad face.

I sighed. "We have one week to get ready. If we both do really well, I'll do it."

"Cowabunga bra! Now that's what I like to hear!" He offered a fist, and I bumped it. "Start tonight?"

"Tonight?" I asked him. "Are you serious?"

He shrugged. "Some of the best Pokémon around only come out at night. Besides, training time is already at a premium."

I thought for a minute. What he said was true. Pokémon like Hoothoot and Kriketot did only come out at night. I shrugged. "Why not?"

"Sweet! Just give me a sec to get my Pokéballs." He ran upstairs and came down with six Pokéballs. "Three for me, three for you. That way, we'll have a selection for the tournament."

I nodded. "Okay, let's do it. Where to?"

He thought for a minute. "What about that meadow area in front of your house?"

I scrunched up my eyebrows. "You know we don't own that, right?"

"What the owners don't know won't kill them," he said.

"Okay, let's go," I relented. I put Torchic in his Pokéball and drove both of us back to my house, but stopped at the gate leading to the meadow near it. We got out and grabbed the Pokéballs. To the left was a grove of trees and to the right was a field. We hopped the fence.

"Hey man, let's spread out," said Jacob. "We'll meet back at the gate in fifteen."

I nodded. "Sounds good." He went right and I went left. I decided to let Torchic out ASAP so that we wouldn't wake the Pokémon with the light if we saw any.

We crept along, me and my big body keeping back from Torchic, who was in the lead. I was making sure to stick to the trees whenever possible. Then Torchic stopped.

"Tor," said Torchic quietly.

"You see… oh, I see it." Torchic had spotted a little mouse-like Pokémon curled up in a ball on the ground. I could see that it was a Sandshrew. Although they were usually desert Pokémon, this area was dry enough in the summer for a number of them to make their way this far north, though most headed south by December. This late in the season, they were a rare find. A Ground Pokémon wouldn't really help me against the Flying, Grass, or Water-types that were found around here, but if someone had an Electric or Fire Pokémon, which were good against the common types around here, it would be a real asset. In any case, it was one down and two to go. I knew that you had to weaken Pokémon, usually, but when they were sleeping naturally it was almost even odds. I decided to take a bit of a chance with this one. I threw the Pokéball and it disappeared in a burst of light. It didn't even try to escape.

_Well, that was anticlimatic. I almost wish it had put up a fight._ I said to myself. I checked my watch. I'd only been out for a couple of minutes, so I decided to keep going. Even with Torchic out in front I almost tripped over my next catch. In the light of the moon, I could make out a four-legged form with a large plant bulb on the back of the sleeping Pokémon.

There was no mistaking that it was a Bulbasaur, and a pretty big one at that. Bulbasaur were very common, not just around here but almost everywhere. They were known to be strong enough in competition for professionals, once leveled up and evolved a couple of times, but very easy to train with pretty significant defensive capabilities and powerful Grass-type moves.

In other words, it would be a perfect addition to my team. I was about to catch it in its sleep like Sandshrew when its eyes fluttered open. _Well, there goes that idea._ "Torchic, Peck!" Its beak glowed, then it charged and nailed Bulbasaur in the side, waking it up completely.

"Bulb!" it shouted, obviously not happy about being woken up. It immediately let loose with a barrage of Razor Leaves.

"Peck again!" I said. This time, Bulbasaur wasn't caught off-guard. It quickly countered with Vine Whip, snaking it around Torchic's body and holding it to be hit by Razor Leaf. I had to think fast. "Use Ember!" Torchic fired a small storm of embers from its beak, which almost got through the Razor Leaves but not quite.

I was running out of options.

"Peck the Vines!" I told my Pokémon. Apparently, Bulbasaur had a sense of feeling in its Vines, as the Razor Leaves faltered. With more pecking, Bulbasaur let go and Torchic was free. "Now go for Bulbasaur with Peck!" I told it. Torchic ran as fast as its little chicken legs could carry it, and managed to get to the grass-type before it could counter. The glowing beak definitely hurt it. At this point, it had taken two super-effective attacks but was still going. I had to be impressed by its toughness. That's when I saw something green shimmering around it. I couldn't figure out what it was until Torchic erupted in flames. _Blaze and Overgrow!_ This battle was much closer than I would like. That Bulbasaur must have been at a pretty good level to give Torchic a battle like this, especially with all the typing against it.

"Bulbasaur!" it yelled defiantly.

"Torchic!" my little chicken answered back.

"Use Ember!" Bulbasaur countered with Razor Leaf. Thanks to Overgrow, Razor Leaf was much stronger, but Torchic's Ember was just as boosted. For a second, the two attacks held each other at bay, but eventually Bulbasaur started losing ground. Torchic must have been really trying to overcome that Razor Leaf attack as leaves fell to the ground in flames as the barrage of embers eventually made its way to Bulbasaur itself. I could tell that it was taking major damage, but it wasn't out of the fight yet. I had to finish this, or it would finish Torchic. "One more time Torchic! Peck!"

The last time was too much for it. It slumped over, tired, but still awake as I threw my second Pokéball. As the Pokéball opened up, it drew the Grass-type inside. It tried to get out, the ball wiggling back and forth, but it eventually stopped. _Wow, that Bulbasaur will be one heck of an addition to my team,_ I said to myself. Granted, Grass-types were one of the most easily countered types, but that didn't mean that they didn't pack a significant punch. I picked up the Pokéball and headed back to the gate, noticing that I was five minutes late for my meet-up already. _I guess it's easy to lost track of time when you're in a battle._

* * *

Well, what do you think so far? I know this sounds like an all-too-typical way to ask for a review, but please do so!

Also, if you read this chapter before I edited it, there was a last-minute name change for the MC and an inconsistency in the name of his dad. The MC is named Kyle Turner and his dad is Norman Turner.


	2. Support from your Friends

For those who had read my previous chapter before I corrected my early mistakes due to a last-minute name change, I'll clarify this now. The MC is Kyle Turner and his dad is Norman Turner. With that out of the way, on to the story.

* * *

Jacob was already waiting on the other side of the fence when I showed up with my new additions to my team.

"What took you so long, man?"

I shrugged. "I just added two Pokémon to my team."

His eyes went up. "Not bad for your first time. 'Course, it's kinda' my first time as well. Well, get on my side of the fence and show me, 'cause I caught two Pokémon too!"

I hopped the fence as he threw his Pokéballs.

Out came a dragonfly-like Pokémon and a snake that was so dark in color that it was almost invisible in the dark. "Yanma," hummed the first. "Ekans," hissed the second.

"Whoa," I said. "Those are cool, man."

He smiled. "Thanks. That Ekans really put up a fight. He actually almost got Mudkip."

The snake just hissed in reply, obviously pleased with itself. I threw my Pokéballs and Sandshrew and Bulbasaur came out.

"Sand?" said the former, rubbing the sleep out of its eyes before looking around in confusion. I let Torchic out.

"Hey Torchic, why don't you give Sandshrew here the 411. He was out for a little bit."

While Torchic was talking to Sandshrew, Bulbasaur was giving Jacob's Ekans the evil eye. Ekans slithered closer to it and I got Bulbasaur's Pokéball out in case we needed it, but poisonous Pokémon didn't mean any harm. After a few minutes, the two Pokémon started talking it up.

"Kyle, any chance I can crash at your place tonight?" asked Jacob.

I shrugged. "Sure, why not?" I drove us all up to the house and parked the car. Mom met us at the door.

"Kyle, whose Pokémon are those?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Mine and Jacob's."

She glared at me. "Are the cute ones yours or Jacob's?"

I laughed. "Chill, Mom, I caught Bulbasaur and Sandshrew. Jacob loaned me the Pokéballs."

"Yeah, and he didn't do too badly with them either," he said. "By the way, can I crash here for the night?"

She sighed. "Okay, but tell me they're going to sleep in their Pokéballs," she said while glaring at Ekans.

I looked at Jacob. He shrugged. "Honestly, it's probably best for Ekans to stay in its Pokéball for now."

The snake Pokémon gave its best impression of a shrug. Indifference was a good trait to be had in a species that had been known to kill if angered.

Jacob recalled Ekans and Yanma. I left Bulbasaur and Sandshrew out, promising Mom that they'd be good. Then Jacob let out Mudkip, and it was a regular party. I lead the way up to my room. I had a bunk bed because Jacob slept over so often, but to be fair I slept over at his house pretty often too. I grabbed some spare blankets and pillows for the Pokémon. Sandshrew decided to curl up under my sheets. Its skin may have been a little tough, but I didn't mind. Mudkip had his favorite place in the bean bag chair in the corner. Torchic made a small nest of blankets in the middle of the floor and settled down comfortably. Bulbasaur had the most interesting arrangement of all. He had suspended himself from the bunk bed with his vine whip. I googled my three Pokémon in the hopes that I could glean some extra information about their possible attacks as well as any other strengths and weaknesses that I didn't already know. Bulbasaur was the only search that revealed any secrets. Apparently since they were so common there were entire sites dedicated to their care and training. Some of them were pretty outlandish, such as teaching a Bulbasaur to levitate using energy from the sun, but others sounded very interesting. A couple even sounded plausible.

I awoke the next morning to Bulbasaur landing on my stomach. "Oof! Really dude? You _had_ to wake me up?"

Bulbasaur just glared at me. I rubbed my stomach. "Okay, I guess I deserved that." Bulbasaur laughed as I realized that it was paying me back for attacking it in _its_ sleep the night before. _Memo to me: never incur the wrath of Bulbasaur._

"Meow?" Glameow and Meowth had come into the room. Sandshrew hid in the corner at the site of the felines.

"Chill Spring and Shiny, the stench is only me," said Jacob. He jumped off the top bunk, landing on the floor so hard Torchic and Mudkip woke up. "Torchic!" shouted my little bird. It saw the kitties licking their chops. Then it opened its mouth and appeared to be charging an attack.

"Hold your fire, bro, it's all right! They're friends." I told him. He didn't stop glaring at them, but they decided that messing with the Fire Pokémon wasn't the best idea they'd ever had, especially with Mudkip standing next to it. They'd already tried the mud fish Pokémon once, and once was all they'd ever need.

"Dude, I think that was gonna' be Flamethrower," said Jacob. "I don't know how your Torchic learned it so early, but somehow he did.

I nodded. "Yeah, it usually take a lot more time to learn that move. Maybe it has something to do with his parents?"

Jacob shrugged. "Dunno, bra."

I sighed. "Well, who's hungry?" I asked. Everyone started hopping up in the air. "Okay, let's see what we got downstairs." I lead the little troupe of Pokémon down the stairs and into the kitchen. I checked the pantry and got out a can of Oran Berry Sauce and two cans of Pecha Berries. I heated the Oran Berry Sauce and poured it over the Pecha Berries. Then, I poured the mixture equally into six bowls. Jacob grabbed some cereal and Miltank milk for the humans and then let out Ekans and Yanma. Surprisingly, Sandshrew was finished before the others. Then Dad came downstairs.

He stopped short when he saw the Pokémon. "Wow, you've been busy," he said.

"Yeah, Jacob loaned me a couple of Pokéballs. We went hunting last night," I told him.

He raised an eyebrow. "And which ones are yours, pray tell?"

I shrugged. "Bulbasaur and Sandshrew. The others are Jacob's."

Jacob was face-deep in his cereal this whole time. Sandshrew walked up to Dad and started sniffing his leg. Dad picked up the little mouse Pokémon. Sandshrew squealed happily when Dad started scratching his tummy. "Well, this is interesting. Are you planning on taking the League Challenge?" I looked at Jacob as he took a short breathing break from eating.

Jacob nodded encouragingly. "Well, I'm thinking a good start would be the Calaveras County Winter Tournament. It was Jake's idea. We'll just go there and see how well we do to gauge our abilities."

Dad nodded. "Good. Don't over-reach until you know your abilities." He put Sandshrew down, and the Ground Pokémon walked back over to its breakfast. Then Dad looked at me. "So, a Fire-type, Ground-type, and Grass-type. That's a pretty good start to a balanced team."

I smiled. "Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Next up is a Water-type. Preferable something with a secondary typing. I really like Sandshrew, but dual-types usually have more coverage."

Dad nodded. "Good thinking. Are you going to the lake today to train?"

Jacob looked at me and I explained that Dad had suggested the Hogan as a training ground.

"Well, why not?" he asked. "Let's have some fun and catch a new Pokémon!"

"One more thing," said Dad, "if you see a Magikarp, don't sass it. They may be weak now, but it's near-impossible to figure out when they evolve. I don't want you to end up Gyarados snacks."

"Dad, you're acting like Mom."

"No, my concerns are grounded."

"Don't worry Mr. Turner," said Jacob as he put me in a headlock and gave me a noogie. "I got my eye on this knucklehead!"

After I pried Jacob's arm off of my shoulder, we put our plates in the dishwasher and I drove Jacob by his house so that he could change his clothes and show his parents his new Pokémon. Then we stopped by a convenience store for some Oran Bites for the Pokémon, more than enough sandwiches for us, ice for the ice chest that was always in my car, and a six-pack of Pepsi. Seriously, winters in California aren't that bad, and on a day like today, it might hit the seventies. After that, we hit the road for the thirty-minute drive to Lake Hogan. We had to take a back road to get to the place where Dad and I used to fish for Magikarp. Strictly catch-and-release. We stepped out and released our Pokémon. "Hey Kyle," said Jacob, "wanna' battle?"

I looked at my Pokémon. They nodded. "Why not?"

We squared off a good distance away from each other on a relatively flat piece of ground. "One on one?" I asked.

"Sounds good for a start," Jacob replied. "Yanma, let's see what you can do."

The insect hummed its way to the center of the battlefield. Bulbasaur looked the most ready to battle, so I picked him.

"Bulbasaur!"

"Yannnnnnn!"

They were ready. "Quick Attack!" ordered Jacob.

"Use Razor Leaf!" I told Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur launched its barrage of leaves against the bug, but Yanma zoomed out of the way and hit Bulbasaur in the side.

Jacob decided to switch tactics a little. "Sonic Boom!"

Yanma suddenly screamed, sending sound waves that I could almost see towards Bulbasaur, but my Pokémon barely looked phased.

"Use Vine Whip!" I told him. It tried to grab Yanma, but the bug just plain out-sped the vines. "Try again, but this time go faster!"

"Hurry! Quick Attack!" shouted Jacob.

If there was one thing that the bug could do, it was hurry. It struck Bulbasaur and flew away before Bulbasaur even got the vines out. "Use Vine Whip on my command! Keep your eyes on it!"

"Keep your distance, Yanma! Sonic Boom!"

That's when I saw my opportunity. "Do it now!" Bulbasaur fought through the pain in its ears and somehow snagged Yanma while it had stopped in mid-air to deliver the attack.

"Sonic Boom again!" shouted Jacob.

"Slam it on the ground!" Bulbasaur brought Yanma down onto the ground head-first. Unfortunately, the sound waves deadened the blow.

"Get your head up! Keep using Sonic Boom!" Yanma somehow managed to look up and send a sound wave in Bulbasaur's direction, causing Bulbasaur to cringe. It had just recovered when the next attack came.

That's when Bulbasaur suddenly remembered how to Tackle.

The little Grass-type ran across the battlefield while reeling in Yanma. The end result was a satisfying collision that left Yanma hurting. Its maneuverability advantage taken away, Yanma had no choice but to take the attack in full

"Do it again, Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur let out some slack in its vines as it walked backwards, then charged while keeping Yanma under wraps again. Yanma stopped struggling. "You wanna' call this one?" I asked Jacob.

He nodded. "Yeah, you win."

Bulbasaur released the bug on hearing this and walked back to me, probably waiting to hear what I'd say. I knelt down to get more on its level. "Bulbasaur, that was awesome!"

"Bulba!" it smiled.

I scratched it behind its head. "We still have some work to do, little guy, but you are a freaking beast to be able to take that many hits and keep going." Bulbasaur put its front two feet on my knee and nuzzled my face. I guess I'd won its approval. As a trainer, that meant more to me than anything. "So, are you up for helping me catch a Water-type?"

It nodded vigorously. "Saur! Bulbasaur!"

"Sweet! Let's get going."

"I'll go see what I can catch, too, though I'm not looking for a Water-type," said Jacob.

"What, you don't want to go Magikarp?"

"Nah, I like Pokémon that can be powerful throughout their entire lifetime. Plus, there's no real formula for evolving a Magikarp quickly other than pissing it off. Just saying, I don't really like the idea of a pissed-off Gyarados."

I nodded. He did have a point. "And if Gyarados didn't get you, my dad would."

We both had a good laugh at that one as we went our separate ways. I went to the water's edge with Bulbasaur, Sandshrew, and Torchic in tow. I guess the other two had just decided to tag along. When we got to the water, I had no idea how I'd catch a Water-type until Bulbasaur reached its vines in and pulled out a Magikarp. "Whoa, did you learn how to fish in the wild?" I asked him. Bulbasaur nodded. I guess that would explain his size. I took a look at the Magikarp that Bulbasaur had brought up. Bulbasaur brought it closer so that I could take a better look, and maybe even catch it. That's when my previous conversation came back to me. I had only one week to train, and Gyarados took a lot longer than that to tame. It would have been a huge addition to my team, but I just didn't have time. "Sorry for disturbing you, Magikarp. Bulbasaur, put him back but _very gently_." Bulbasaur slowly lowered the Magikarp into the water, and it swam away.

The Grass-type sent out its vines again. This time it pulled up a Goldeen. "No, not that one either. I need something that can battle on land." Goldeen was a pretty powerful Water-type, but if I had choices it wouldn't be my first.

The little fisherman put Goldeen back and cast out once more. This time it searched around for a little bit before it grabbed something else that it seemed to find interesting, judging by the look on its face. This time, it pulled up a rock. "Uh, Bulbasaur? What is…_WOBBUFUT?!_" The rock just sprouted legs and started struggling. I had memorized the names and descriptions of hundreds of Pokémon, but water-dwelling rocks with short yellow legs just didn't quite match _any_ of them. Then Bulbasaur turned its vines so that I could see its front. The red eyes jogged something in my memory as I got closer. "Whoa, you actually look kinda' familiar, like something I once saw in a museum," I told it. It stopped struggling and looked at me, its red eyes staring intently at mine.

"Kabuto."

My jaw went slack. I tried to find my voice as I was totally stunned. "You… you're a…"

"Kabuto," it seemed to finish.

_Damn, I had no idea that you could still find one _ALIVE_!_ Finally, I recovered. "Kabuto, look, I know we just kinda' pulled you up from the bottom of the lake, but I want to ask you something. Blink your eyes once for yes and twice for no. Do you know what I am?" Kabuto hesitated, then blinked twice.

"I'm a Pokémon trainer. I capture Pokémon like you to work with me as a team. Normally, I would just have Bulbasaur hit you with Razor Leaf then throw a Pokéball at you, but something is telling me that that's not the course of action that I should take with you. Do you promise not to run away if I have Bulbasaur put you down?"

The red eyes blinked once.

"Okay, Bulbasaur. Put him down." Bulbasaur lowered the Water/Rock Pokémon to the ground. True to its word, it stayed as I knelt down to get closer to its level. "Kabuto, do you have enough to eat on the bottom of the lake?"

It blinked twice.

"Other, more powerful Pokémon taking your food?"

It blinked once.

"Well, if you come with me, I can promise you two things. First, that I will train you to battle. I'm not very familiar with your possible moves, but I'll do my best to learn. As you battle, you'll grow bigger and stronger, until there will be no Pokémon big enough or strong enough to beat you. Second, that you will not go hungry. You can ask these guys for confirmation of that." My other Pokémon nodded as it looked around. I definitely fed them well. I pulled out my last empty Pokéball. "You'll have to stay in this a lot of the time, although I'll make sure to let you out as much as possible. And you'll have to battle a lot, but that'll just make you get bigger and stronger. It's your choice what you want to do, stay here or come with me, but these guys would love to have you on their side."

Torchic took over from there, talking to Kabuto while occasionally gesturing to me or Bulbasaur or Sandshrew, though mostly Bulbasaur. Both my other Pokémon joined in places, Sandshrew rubbing its tummy at one point, probably referring to the food I give them. Kabuto seemed to ask a few questions, but eventually, the conversation died down.

"So Kabuto," I said, "are you interested in coming with me?" It looked at my three Pokémon, who nodded vigorously, then looked at me.

It blinked.

I waited for the second blink, but it never came. A huge grin split my face. "Is that your final answer?"

It blinked once.

I nodded before gently tossing the Pokéball. It hit the top of Kabuto's shell, opened, converted Kabuto into energy, and closed.

It never wiggled once.

Immediately, I tossed the Pokéball, releasing my newest Pokémon back to the world and the warm welcome from the others.

I picked up my and brought my new friend to eye level. "Kabuto, welcome to the team!"

* * *

Well, now this is interesting. Kyle, a brand-new trainer with minimal theoretical background in Pokémon, now has an extremely rare Pokémon that almost no one has. Not to mention, just what is the deal with him finding two really good Pokémon within fifteen minutes of searching. Explanation coming: next week!

I might, however, add the next chapter early if I get a couple of reviews *hint hint*. Any questions will be addressed as soon as possible, unless I already planned to answer them later in the story, in which case I will say so.

And I just discovered another name mistake from an earlier draft. My bad...


	3. A Pure Heart

Here it is, as promised. Also as promised, the appearance of Kabuto in the lake and why Kyle managed to find two other OP Pokémon, will be explained. I hope you like it.

* * *

After we were done welcoming Kabuto to the team, my little posse and I started back to the car. At first, I tried to have Kabuto walk, but he was unused to moving around out of the water so I carried him the rest of the way. When we finally got there, Jacob hadn't come back yet so I decided to start training. I hadn't seen Sandshrew battle yet, so I decided to start with him.

I had made a short list of Sandshrew's naturally learned attacks. If there was a good place to start, it was from the bottom, with the moves learned latest in life first.

"Sandshrew, I haven't seen you battle yet, so just bear with me when I ask for attacks, okay?" Sandshrew nodded. I started reading.

"Sandstorm?" It shook its head. Okay, so it wasn't a super high-leveled Pokémon.

"Gyro Ball?" Nope.

"Slash?" It shook its head to that one, too.

"Sand Tomb?" Not that one, either.

"Fury Cutter?" A solid no on Fury Cutter.

"Rollout?" Same answer.

"Fury Swipes? Swift? Rapid Spin?" No, nope, and sorry.

"Okay, how about Poison Sting?" It turned and fired a small barrage of poisonous darts into a tree. Not very accurate, but close enough for short range.

"Good, we're getting somewhere. Sand Attack?" It dug up a mess of sand, making it float in the air for a little bit.

"Awesome! Defense Curl?" This time it shook its head no.

"Wait, what?" Sandshrew just shrugged. "Um, Scratch?"

It said "no" to that one, too.

I quickly pulled out my smart phone and googled Sandshrew. It wasn't nearly as complete as a Pokédex, but there were enough sites that showed what attacks the common Pokémon could learn and how. _Did I make a mistake when I wrote the moves down? No, the list is right. There has to be something else…_ I scrolled down the page a little farther. _Huh, it says here that Sandshrew can learn other attacks if its dad wasn't a Sandshrew or Sandslash. Maybe that's it._

"Sandshrew, were both your parents Sandshrew or Sandslash?" It shook its head no. "Can you draw what kind of Pokémon your dad was?"

The little mouse Pokémon drug its claw in the ground. When it looked up at me, I saw a canine-like Pokémon with a scythe coming out of the right side of its head. In all my studies, I'd never, ever encountered a Pokémon like that. I googled "scyth Pokémon," and what it came up with was frightening.

"Sandshrew, was your dad an _Absol?!_" It nodded and I pulled up what moves it could give Sandshrew.

"Okay, let's try Swords Dance."

Sandshrew danced a complicated step before bringing its arms to its sides, the tiny claws curled up into fists. An aura surrounded it for a second, and then dissipated. From what I remembered about Swords Dance, its attack power had just gotten a _huge_ boost. I read off the second attack.

"Night Slash?" To that it shook its head again. I blinked in confusion before returning to the page on Sandshrew's attacks. _Did I miss something again?_ Then I saw it. Technical Machines. If either of its parents had known one, the move would have been passed on. However, there were, like, thirty-something. I didn't have time to read them off.

"How about you just show me your last move, there's too many possibilities here." Immediately, it dug under the ground, then popped up in another location. "Well, I should have guessed. It's Dig."

Then I remembered something else. "Hey guys, some trainers give their Pokémon nick names. Would you be interested in that?" They nodded, so I started thinking. "Torchic, I know that I've known you longer than the others, but I haven't come up with anything yet. Maybe once we start training more, I will, but right now, I'm coming up blank. Sorry." Torchic shrugged.

Sandshrew took a little thought, but not all that much. "Sandshrew, your dad was known as the Disaster Pokémon. You're no disaster for me, but the disasters that Absol usually warn people about are storms. What would you say to being named Storm?

Sandshrew, now Storm, nodded its approval. "Okay Sandshrew, from now on you will be known as 'Storm'."

Bulbasaur was easy. "Bubasaur, every time you battle you turn out to be a freaking beast. So, how about Beast?"

Beast, formerly Bulbasaur, approved as well.

Kabuto I hadn't known long enough to properly name. No defining characteristics, so to speak, other than the fact that he was rare. "Kabuto, I'm having kind of the same problem as I am with Torchic. Nothing's sticking out yet, so I'll have to come up with yours later. That okay?"

Kabuto blinked once. For a second I was confused, but then I remembered that that was our way of communicating "yes."

"Okay, cool. Now, I guess we just need to get training." We went to the place where I had battled Jacob. I figured that Torchic would be as good a place to start as any, so I called him out first.

"Torchic, I saw you charging an attack this morning against Spring and Shiny. Show me the full attack." Torchic powered up the attack, mirroring the site I'd seen that morning, then unleashed Flamethrower.

"Okay, so that was Flamethrower. Good to know."

"Torch! Torch!"

I wasn't sure why Torchic was so happy, but whatever it was, it was a good thing.

"And your other attack is either Growl or Focus Energy?"

The little bird shook its head no, so I broke out Google once again. Torchic wasn't a common Pokémon in the wild, but it was popular enough as a starter Pokémon that its whole pool of moves to draw from was online. If its dad wasn't a member of its evolutionary line, then it was possible that it knew one of the more outlandish moves. Then I remembered how it knew Flamethrower so early and narrowed my search to Pokémon that could be bred with the Blaziken line who could learn Flamethrower.

"Was your dad not one of your evolutions?"

To this, Torchic shook its head no, again. Huh.

"Okay then… in that case, I have no clue where to start looking for your other move."

Torchic smiled, then raised both its tiny wings. White rings of energy appeared over the former battlefield, while several large, grey rocks rained out from them, crashing onto the field. _Damn!_

"Rockslide?!"

"Torch!" It said happily, jumping up and down. Then I remembered something that I had found while researching Torchic and its evolutions.

Certain Pokémon are in extremely high demand as starters. Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander, Pikachu, Chikorita, Totodile, Cindaquil, Treecko, Mudkip, Torchic, Turtwig, Piplup, and Chimchar are all common starters, mostly because they're very powerful but relatively easy to train. Because of this demand, some breeders specialize in one or two of these, and sometimes related Pokémon to increase the number of moves they can give any particular Pokémon. Advertising that your son or daughter can start with a rare move or two is a _HUGE_ selling point for parents. And considering that my dad was a former gym leader, and still pretty well-off, that might explain why Torchic started with two very, very powerful moves, Flamethrower and Rock Slide. He must have paid top-dollar for Torchic.

That may or may not explain why all I got for Christmas, other than Torchic, was a sturdy pair of walking shoes…

"So, your moves are Ember, Peck, Flamethrower, and Rock Slide?" I asked him.

Torchic nodded. "Chic!"

That's when I started asking myself the question that was burning at the back of my mind. _How the hell do I get so freaking lucky?! Bulbasaur… I mean Beast… is super powerful for its level, Storm knows two awesome moves that most Sandshrew _NEVER_ learn naturally, Torchic knows two of the best moves it could possibly know, and Kabuto… well, it's a FREAKING FOSSIL! It's not just a Pokémon that no one has, its online picture is a _skeleton!

"Yo Kyle, you catch anything?"

Hearing Jacob's voice, I quickly recalled Kabuto. Sure, we were best friends, but I still wanted to keep an ace up my sleve. "Jacob! What'd you find?"

He came back and sat down, grinning like a madman. "You aren't going to believe this!" He said.

"Nope, I probably would," I said, thinking about my one-in-a-million team.

He pulled out a Pokéball and threw it. Out came…nothing.

"Wait, did I miss something?"

"No, I did. Mudkip had a Cyndaquil on the ropes, so I threw the Pokéball. Guess what? My aim was off! I missed it completely and it got away before I could grab the ball!"

I was shocked. "Wait, you threw the Pokéball and _missed_ your target?!"

He nodded. "Yep, that's about the story of my life. But enough about my misfortunes, tell me about your fortunes."

I grinned. "I got something, but I'll show you later. I'm not even sure what moves it knows, yet."

Jacob sighed. "You _will_ show me later. Break for lunch?"

We pulled out the sandwiches and Pepsi. Jacob kept trying to get hints about my fourth Pokémon out of me, but I just told him that he'd find out eventually.

Once we separated again, I called Dad. I really needed some answers about my crazy team.

"Dad, where did you get Torchic?"

_"I knew someone who specialized in Torchics over on the east coast. He claimed that Torchic would know Rock Slide and Flamethrower, so I called in a favor to get him at a discount. Torchic wasn't cheap, but you're my son. I know that you're capable of handling the best."_

"Wait, you knew someone who specialized in breeding Torchics?"

_"Yeah, I met him back when I was a gym leader. His first Pokémon was a Ralts, and he tried taking the league challenge at one point, but he realized that his real calling was breeding once he was knocked out of the League Tournament. One of his friends owned a small Torchic breeding center at the time, so this guy bought out his friend and got to work. It's still small, but he's got a heck of a reputation for high-quality Pokémon. One of the Pokémon that he breeds his stock with is a Camerupt, hence why Torchic knows Rock Slide."_

"Whoa, that's cool."

_"It sure is. But tell me, did you catch your Water Pokémon, yet?"_

"Yeah, about that… have you ever heard of Kabuto?"

_"Kabuto? It's been a while, but yeah. I guess you found one, then?"_

_How did he guess that so quickly? _"Um, yes, I did."

_"Nice. He'll come in handy during the tournament."_

"Wait, you don't think it's even a little odd that I found a living fossil in Lake Hogan?"

_"I never said that they were common, but have you ever heard of the Devon Corporation?"_

"Of course. They make gadgets for trainers, right?"

_"Right. Well, they've been resurrecting a few of the fossil Pokémon recently. They released them to the wild in secluded areas so that they could study their interaction with more modern Pokémon and ecosystems. So far only Kabuto and Omanyte have been released, and in very limited numbers. They didn't want to shock the ecosystem or anything."_

"I'm curious, how did you know that they were doing that?"

_"I'm still in touch with a lot of the current gym leaders. One of them is the son of the guy who owns Devon Corporation. He told me that Devon had selected Lake Hogan as a testing area for their eventual re-introduction to the wild, thanks to its relatively simple food chain made up of Goldeen, Magikarp, very few Gyarados, and a small school of Seakings. Those Pokémon are found almost everywhere, so if it thrived well enough there then it would have a good chance of surviving everywhere else. Why do you think I suggested that you train there?"_

I figured that if they had released them to the area then finding one wasn't that big of a coincidence after all. Especially if Dad knew that I wouldn't be able to use any of the other Pokémon found in the area. Which, considering that he was pretty knowledgeable about these things, was a _very_ good possibility.

_"Anything else?"_

"Yeah, one other thing. It's pretty minor, but what are the chances of a Sandslash mating with an Absol in this area?"

_"Are you talking about your Sandshrew?"_

"Yeah, I am."

_"Actually, that's not strange at all. Not even at this time of year."_

That was confusing. "What?"

Dad continued. _"There's a breeder in Stockton that does a lot of Sandshrew breeding, with one of their products being an Absol cross. You know the two moves that Sandshrew can get from Absol?"_

"Yeah, Swords Dance and Night Slash."

_"You got it. This breeder isn't really on the up-and-up. She releases any Sandshrew that don't know both of those moves as well as Dig and Sandstorm."_

That was shocking. "They just let them go in the middle of winter? How can they be so cruel?"

_"Some breeders, like the one I got your Torchic from, genuinely care about all the Pokémon that they breed and make sure that they all go to good, loving trainers, even the ones that don't turn out quite right. Others, like the one your Sandshrew came from, see them as products coming off an assembly line. Only the best are kept to be sold. The imperfect ones are discarded."_

I found it hard to believe that anyone could have such a heart of ice towards these cute little creatures. "What do you mean, 'discarded'?"

_"She takes them out here and just lets them fend for themselves. I know a lot of young trainers who watch her let them go and then catch them. I know, it's heartbreaking, but most of them do end up in good homes. Sandshrew is lucky that you found it. If those trainers don't pick one of the discarded Pokémon, they usually get eaten within the first couple of months."_

That's when I thought of something else. "What about Bulbasaur? Does she breed them, too?"

_"She's been known to, yes, but not extensively. Last I heard, she breeds them for Grasswhistle, Solar Beam, Sunny Day, and Sludge Bomb. Your Bulbasaur probably doesn't have those moves, does it?"_

"No, it doesn't. Razor Leaf, Vine Whip, Tackle, and... actually, I don't know what the last one is, but if it was any of the others Bulbasaur would have used it by now."

_"Well, there's your answer right there. She discarded a naturally powerful Bulbasaur for one with moves that she could advertise. That's how a breeder builds their rep, by offering unique move combinations."_

"Wait, how did you know that Bulbasaur was naturally powerful?"

_"Size. You can always tell how powerful a Bulbasaur is by its size, and for how old I'm guessing yours is, it's huge."_

_Damn. _"So, my Pokémon catching wasn't really all that lucky, was it?"

Dad chuckled. _"Nope, and I had a feeling that you'd be catching in that field so I asked that breeder to release a few of her 'failed' Pokémon there."_

_Hold up, that doesn't compute... oh shit. _"Wait, you _stocked_ the Pokémon that I could find?"

_"Well, I would have gotten you another Pokémon in addition to Torchic, but a good Torchic and a small bribe were more cost-effective. Oh, you might also want to keep an eye on Jacob's Ekans. It is from around here, but for one to get that big in the wild it had to be pretty strong to begin with."_

"Well, thanks for the heads-up, but why did you help me like that? Not that I'm not grateful or anything, but why?"

Dad chuckled. _"I'll help you as much as I can while you're here, because as soon as you start your journey, you'll be on your own. I'll always give you advice, but I might be unable to plant wild Pokémon for you to catch."_ Dad chucked for a second, then his tone turned serious. _"Kyle, there is one thing that I want in return. You know about your mother's paranoia of fire Pokémon. Torchic is a powerful Fire-type, but I want you to promise me something."_

"Sure, what is it?"

_"When you get to that tournament, don't use Torchic's Fire-type moves. I know I'm cramping your style, but I don't want you to have to deal with your mother when all is said and done. Rock Slide should be more than enough when combined with Peck. Sorry about this, but if your mom finds out about Torchic before you get out of the gate, it's game over. After you leave, it won't matter."_

I thought about what he said for a second. Flying-type moves have pretty similar coverage to Fire-type moves. Both are Super Effective against Grass and Bug Pokémon, and Peck might be slightly more effective against Fighting-types than Ember, or maybe even Flamethrower in certain situations. Steel Pokémon, which Fire is strong against and Flying is weak against, aren't all that common throughout most of the West Coast, so it wouldn't be that big of a deal. "Sure, dad. I'll make sure to keep Torchic's fire moves under wraps."

_"Thanks, I appreciate it. Now get back to training. You're gonna' need it if you're going to win."_

"Okay, I will. Later!"

After I hung up, I didn't know how I felt about my dad rigging my team, even if it was in my favor. I love him and all, but something inside me just didn't like the idea of having an unfair advantage over my competition just because Dad was a former Gym Leader. If I'd caught those Pokémon without his interference, I might have been okay with it. Shocked at my luck, yes, but okay. Now…

Now, I wasn't too sure.

* * *

Uh oh, what's Dad up to? Why did he rig Kyle's team? Is this why Kyle's mom didn't like the idea of her son becoming a trainer?

Tune in next time. The story continues.

Also, if you figured out who Kyle's parents are, congratulations. You have played Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald/Fire Red/Leaf Green/Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire/Red/Blue/Green/Yellow or just watched the anime. Well done. Or you searched "Norman" and got the perfect picture of Kyle's dad.

In case you're wondering what Kyle looks like, think of a younger version of Norman with slightly longer, slightly lighter hair and a goatee.


	4. Adversity

Sorry it's taken so long, but here's the next part. It turns out that as you re-write an entire story that you had planned out because you didn't like what was going on in it that it takes longer than you originally planned for. I hope that you enjoy the battling in this one.

Anyway, on with the story.

* * *

The next day, we went back out to the lake. Jacob tried very, very hard to catch that Cindaquil, but he just couldn't find it.

I was working with Torchic when a couple of pickup trucks full of trainers pulled up. I quickly recalled all my Pokémon.

"Dang, I really thought that I was the only one who knew about this place," said the driver of one of the trucks.

That's when one of them noticed my Pokéballs. "Hey, you a trainer?" he asked. I nodded. "Good, then let me tell you what's going to happen. We're here to train for the County Tournament, and we don't want anyone stealing our secrets. We'll battle you, one-on-one. If you beat us, we'll train somewhere else. If you don't, then you're out of here."

Just then, Jacob arrived on the scene. "Dudes, eight against one? That's not fair. How about we make this eight against two?"

They just shrugged. "Makes no difference," said the first. "Let's battle."

Jacob squared off against their leader. "You're the challenger, so you send it out first."

"Fine. I choose Treecko!" The green gecko Pokémon came out, looking ready to battle.

"In that case, I'll choose Ekans." Still purple, still scary, Ekans made Treecko back down just a little. Jacob wasted no time whatsoever. "Use Poison Sting!"

"Kaaaaaaa!" Ekans launched a huge barrage of poison stings at the Grass-type.

"Dodge it, Treecko!" To its credit, it did try, but the other trainer wasn't fast enough in giving the order. The attack hit for super-effective damage. Poison sting isn't a particularly powerful attack to begin with, but at three times the damage, it'll hurt. I made a mental note to teach my Pokémon to dodge on their own in case I couldn't tell them in time.

That's when I noticed that Treecko had a needle from the attack lodged in its left arm. A wave of poison washed over it, taking it to its knees. "Use Quick Attack!" said Jacob's opponent.

"Bite!" shouted Jacob. Ekans' bite must have hurt, and with Treecko barreling straight at Ekans, all the snake had to do was open its mouth, wait for Treecko's head to hit it, and close its mouth. I felt sorry for Treecko. Ekans is one brutal Pokémon. Then, it got even more brutal. "Use Wrap!"

Ekans pulled Treecko to the ground with its teeth then slid its snaky body around it, tightening it, all while keeping hold of Treecko's head. I felt a tiny part of me die when I tried to imagine what the poor gecko was feeling.

"Treecko! Try Bullet Seed!" Even against type, that had to hurt at that close range, but the snake didn't look even scratched by the exploding seeds.

"Give it a squeeze!" That MUST have hurt Treecko. Four feet of pure muscled body wrapped around it and now tightening was going to put a damper on that Pokémon's day.

"Treecko, return!" said the other trainer. He looked upset, but that's Pokémon battling. Yes, it was a little on the hard side, but which is better: squeezing a Pokémon until they pass out from lack of air, or burning them until they black out from the pain? Same difference.

"My turn!" said one of his cronies. "I'll send out Bibarel!"

Bibarel was a fairly common Pokémon around the Mississippi River, so I had a good grasp on its abilities. Dual-type Normal/Water, sharp teeth, strong body. Nothing too strange.

"Bibarel, use Water Gun!"

"Roll!" Ekans rolled like a log out of the way of the Water Gun. One-word evasion moves seem to work just as well as automatic reflexes if you want a little more control over how your Pokémon move.

"Poison Sting while rolling!" shouted Jacob. Ekans didn't have a prayer of touching Bibarel, but that wasn't the point. It got Bibarel off of the offensive and it stopped blasting its Water Gun while it avoided the stings, giving Ekans enough time to get up.

"Roll Out!" shouted the other trainer. Bibarel curled up into a ball and rolled towards Ekans as fast as it could.

"Bite!" Ekans' bite was like a replay of the last battle. Bibarel rolled right into it and got hurt.

Unlike Treecko, Bibarel had a trick up its sleeve. Ekans bit its head, but Bibarel was still able to use its Water Gun. So, when it did, Ekans filled up with water faster than it would have otherwise wanted to and let go very quickly. Just another little lesson: when an opponent with a breath-based attack is using Rollout, do not bite its head or a point-blank attack will ensue.

The two Pokémon faced each other, and while Bibarel was mostly okay, Ekans was breathing heavily. "C'mon Ekans! You can do it! Poison Sting!"

"Water Gun!" The Poison Sting attack helped to deflect the bulk of the Water Gun attack, but not all of it. Ekans took a small blast of water before rolling out of the way.

That big, purple snake looked really, really pissed. Ekans was not used to losing. It closed its eyes for a second, and when it opened them they were the most frightening sight I'd ever seen. I looked away, but when I looked back, Bibarel was shivering on the ground, paralyzed. "Whoa, little bro! Did you just learn Glare?!"

"Ekansss…" it hissed, again doing its impression of a shrug. Then it let loose with another barrage of Poison Sting, taking the prone Bibarel by surprise.

"Okay, that's cool man. Pour it on him!" Within seconds, Bibarel was covered in poisonous spines and not looking any better than Ekans.

"I got to hand it to you, Jacob," I said. "Ekans just turned that battle upside down."

"Thanks, bra. I've been working really hard with him."

"It shows."

"Bibarel, Rollout!"

"Ekans, Bite!"

_Why would he ask for that?! That's how Bibarel got the upperhand before!_

At first, it was identical to the way it happened before. Bibarel rolled into Ekans' mouth, but this time, Jacob knew a better strategy. "Use Poison Sting!"

Perhaps at range Water Gun will beat Poison Sting. Up-close, no dice. Ekans, still holding Bibarel in its mouth, turned and looked at Jacob.

"Nu uh, not cool, man. You let that Bibarel go."

"Ethans!" it said around a mouthful of Bibarel.

"You're not in the wild anymore, buddy. Your opponent is no longer your food."

Ekans looked very sad as it released Bibarel, while the other trainer was horrified. _"Ekans was about to eat _Bibarel_?!"_

Jacob shrugged. "I just caught him day before yesterday. This is his first real battle outside of hunting, so lay off, will ya?"

"I'll teach you to 'lay off,'" said the next trainer. "I'll lay you off with the fist of Machop!" Out of this Pokéball came what was, literally, the most common Fighting-type Pokémon in the entire world. It's found on all continents, is one of the easiest to train, and is actually reasonably powerful when fully-evolved.

However, it does have the slight problem of completely failing at long-range.

"Ekans, sweet battles, bra. Take a siesta my friend. Yanma, it's Hammer Time!"

"Hammer Time? Seriously?!"

"Dude, Machop can't touch this!"

"Machop, Karate Chop!" Machop ran and jumped at Yanma, but true to Hammer Time, Yanma just buzzed to the side and nailed it with Sonic Boom. Same tactic that Jacob used against me and it's even more effective now that Jacob's been training Yanma's evasion. Yanma soon fells Machop, and the other trainer is left looking a little shit-faced for failing to defeat a bug with his big, powerful Machop.

The next trainer steps up. "Geodude, let's rumble!"

Geodude is a floating rock with two arms, a mouth, and two eyes. That's about it. Oh, and it's the perfect matchup against Yanma.

"Same thing, Yanma! Hammer Time!"

"Jacob! Geodude is a Rock-type, Yanma's attacks will barely scratch the surface!"

"Chill, bra. Yanma's still got a few tricks up its wings. Let 'em have it, little guy!"

"Geodude, use Rock Throw!" Geodude grabbed rocks from the ground and chucked them at the bug, but Yanma was untouchable. Buzz, buzz, buzz went the wings as the bug looked like an aviator in those old WWII films, narrowly missing rock after rock, and nailing Geodude every chance it got.

Geodude was getting pretty worn-down, but right as Yanma looked like it would win, Geodude got lucky and nailed it with a rock. "Yanma!"

"I guess you _can_ touch this," I said.

"That's okay. I still got the Big Wave. Surf's up, Mudkip!"

"Oh, shit!" said the other guy.

"Water gun!"

"Rock Throw!"

Geodude was too worn-down by that time and so was too slow on the draw. The water was significantly faster, and the already worn-down Geodude was done for.

That's when one of the two girls in the group stepped up. "I'll show you morons how to battle. Pichu, show this ugly Mudkip your Thundershock!"

The little, yellow mouse with the tiny tail came out of the Pokéball and hit Mudkip with its electric attack. Talk about ouch.

The shock on that girl's face when Mudkip was still standing was very, very evident. "Mudkip, use Mud Slap!"

Mudkip scooped some mud off the ground and nailed Pichu between the eyes. Try as it might, Pichu couldn't get the mud off. "Use Tackle Attack!" Mudkip launched itself at Pichu, sending it flying.

"Use Thunderwave!" Pichu tried to shock Mudkip, but Mudkip wisely stayed behind it.

"Tackle!"

Pichu have great offensive capabilities for a baby Pokémon. You never want to be on the receiving end of their attacks. However, like all babies, they are very fragile, and Mudkip was no longer a baby Mudkip. The second tackle following the super-effective mud attack was enough to take it down. Mudkip didn't look all that great, thanks to the super-effective Thundershock, but it was still standing.

"Jacob, take a break. You got five of theirs, I'll finish it off." He nodded, and took my place.

"You're still sending out the first," I said.

"Fine," said my opponent. "Let's throw a Taillow your way!"

I knew that the little, blue bird was fast, and I didn't have anything fast enough to beat it.

What I did have was something that could out-muscle it. "Torchic, you're up!"

"Taillow, Quick Attack!"

"Torchic, Rock Slide!"

The rocks appeared out of thin air as Torchic got an evil smile on his face. For their part, the other trainer and Taillow were shocked into silence.

"Holy crap…" I heard someone whisper as more and more rocks formed in the air.

Then, Torchic let them go.

Take it from me. The sound of a hundred rocks crushing one tiny bird is not a pretty sound by any definition. I helped move the pile of rocks so that the other trainer could recall Taillow.

"Next?" I asked.

The group of trainers got back in their trucks and left without a word.

"Where did _that_ come from, man?!" asked Jacob.

"Dad. He sort of rigged my team."

"Wait, how?"

I told him about my dad bribing the breeder, though I left out the part about Kabuto being found in the lake.

"Dude, I mean, it's awesome that your dad wants to help you out and all, but why'd he _really_ do that?"

"I have no idea. Really, I don't." We let that discussion die at that.

"So," I said, "any luck catching?"

He shook his head. "Didn't see anything good. I almost caught a Pidgey because I'm getting so desperate."

That's about when I got a call from my dad. I swear, he has the best timing. "Hey Dad."

"Kyle, listen, I know you're not all that happy with the way I rigged your team, but I just thought that I'd mention that Jacob's mom called and let me know that he's one Pokémon short of a full team. Any chance the two of you would like to take a trip up to the mountains today and check out the catching there?"

"Dad, you have the perfect timing. We were just talking about that. I'll ask him." I relayed the message to Jacob.

"Bra, if you think that I'd turn down an opportunity like this, you're wrong. Let's roll!"

I gave Dad Jacob's answer. "Excellent. I'll meet you guys in town."

After we packed up the Pokémon and left the lake, we met my dad in Burson, piled into his car, locked mine, and started driving. Dad pressed both of us for details about how we were training our Pokémon and gave us some pointers. He especially approved of Jacob's Hammer Time strategy, but advised him to try and avoid that situation with Geodude if possible. Dad also said that I should focus on training Torchic's agility and that that would pay out in the long run, and that Mudkip should be trained as a tank, not attacker as Jacob had been trying, and that Ekans would really benefit from learning to jump like a spring. Little things that we had never thought of. Did you know that Bulbasaur is actually the fastest of its evolutions and can be competitive in battle without evolving for that very reason?

I debated the idea of not evolving Beast, but decided that the offensive boosts were worth the loss of speed. Besides, a tiny Beast isn't much of a Beast at all.

We got to the mountains in a fairly short amount of time and started looking for a good place to start catching. Dad handed me a Pokéball in case I saw something I wanted to catch, but I didn't think I'd use it.

We found a cave not too long after we started looking, so we went in. Getting Jacob a Pokémon was our first priority, so we stuck together, using some night-vision glasses Dad provided so that we wouldn't wake the Pokémon inside.

At one point, I thought I felt something tap my shoulder, but when I looked, there was nothing there, so we kept going.

Then, we saw it. It was scared, curled up in a pink ball, and whimpering. _Whismur_, I thought. Jacob took out Mudkip's Pokéball, but my dad stopped him. They exchanged some kind of unspoken communication, and Jacob put the Pokéball away. "Hey, there," he said to the little guy, very quietly, after getting down on one knee. "You okay there, little guy?"

Whismur looked up and saw Jacob. It quit whimpering and started sobbing.

"Do you need some help finding your way out?" asked Jacob. Even with its head hid under its huge ears, we could see it nodding. Jacob held out his hand. "It's okay, we'll get you out of here," he said. Whismur took hold of the hand and started to follow Jacob out of the cave. That's when I felt it again.

Something tapped my shoulder, except this time, I know I wasn't imagining anything. I looked over my shoulder and saw something that I could go the rest of my life without seeing.

It was a skull floating in mid-air.

* * *

Apparently, this chapter is shorter than my others. Sorry about the cliff hanger, and I promise, Kyle is NOT about to get a Ghost-type this early. That would be ridiculous. Totally, completely ridiculous. As in it will not happen because his team would be WAY too OP for less than a week of training. Yes, that is the level of ridiculous that I will not reach. Which says something about how stupid it would be of me to do it, because I am a huge fan of the marginally possible.


	5. A Goal

Okay, so what the heck was up with that random Duskull?

I guess we'll find out...

* * *

I managed to conceal my verbal shock and analyze what was going on. This was obviously a Duskull, a rare Ghost-type found mostly in Europe which had been seen in the United States only on extremely rare occasions was floating right in front of me. I stopped walking.

Dad turned around, but saw what was going on and motioned to Jacob to keep walking. If Whismur saw this guy, "ear-splitting" wouldn't begin to describe the sound that it would make in the confined area of the cave.

Once Whismur was safely outside, Dad came back to the spot where I was waiting with Duskull and gave me a thumbs-up. "Sorry about that, but I really didn't want to hear Whismur's loudest cries," I told it.

The skull nodded, as if it understood.

"Is there a reason why you want to talk to me?"

That's when its red eyes seemed to glow much brighter and I found myself somewhere else. There was me and Duskull. Around us was a void.

"Whoa, where are we?!"

"Don't worry, we are communicating telepathically," I heard a voice say.

I looked around for the source of the voice. "Where are you?"

"I'm the floating skull in front you, dumbass."

I looked at Duskull. "Wait, you can talk?!"

"Only in your mind," it said. "Which is where we are."

"Whoa…"

"First time with telepathy?" it deadpanned.

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Well, there's always a first for everything. Anyway, you wanted to know why I wanted to talk to you?"

"Yeah, I do."

"I've been waiting for a trainer to help me out. Deep inside this cave is something called the 'Reaper Cloth.' It's connected to my evolutions, somehow. I have no idea how, but it is. I can't manipulate it for some reason, and I am unable to go too far from it, so if I ever want to evolve fully I'll need to stay in this cave. But…"

"…If you stay in this cave you'll never evolve through battle experience because of the limited number of Pokémon here that you can actually hit," I finished.

"Right. So, little help?"

I put my chin (well, sort of; I mean this wasn't my actual body, so… you know what, never mind) in my hand. "Let me get this straight. You want me to bring this Reaper Cloth out of the cave so that you can battle and gain experience?"

It sighed. "No, I want you to take the Reaper Cloth, and me, with you so that I can evolve."

That shocked me. "You… _want_ me to capture you?!"

The head shook. "No. Seriously, you have got to be the dumbest trainer that I've ever met. I want to travel with you, but freely."

"So, no capturing?"

"Finally… that's right, no capturing."

I gave it a few seconds of thought. "Sounds like you get the long end of the stick while I have to carry this thing with me everywhere. What's in it for me?"

The ghost thought about it. "You get to sleep at night knowing that I'm keeping the poket-sized monsters away?"

I shook my head. "Not good enough. I have other Pokémon for that."

It thought harder. "Uhhh… well, I really don't want to be captured, if that's what you're asking."

"Not what I had in mind."

"Then spill it. What DID you have in mind?"

I shrugged. "We'll be spending a lot of time together. By the time you evolve, we'll either hate each other's guts or be best of friends. If it's the second, you stick with me permanently. I'll even throw in one-on-one training so that you evolve faster."

The skull's eyes went from neutral red to a deep violet as it looked up, as if deep in thought. It sighed. "This is completely at my discretion whether I stay or go after I'm fully-evolved, right?"

I nodded. "That's correct."

After a few more seconds of thought, it nodded. "Well, if I happen to like you and your training style, I guess there's no harm in it."

I grinned. "So, I'd shake your hand but I'm not sure how that would work."

"I do have arms, dumbass." I saw something flowing out from it.

"Oh, must not have seen that in the dark." I grasped the end of it and shook.

As soon as that happened, we were back in the real world. Apparently, no time had gone by as Dad was exactly where he had been before.

"Kyle, do you know what that…"

"It's a Duskull who doesn't want to be captured. It does want me to train it as soon as we find a Reaper Cloth that's somewhere in this cave but it needs to be free to go at any time." I saw the look on Dad's face through the night vision glasses. "It's also able to communicate telepathically. Don't ask."

The shock on Dad's face was quite evident as he didn't say anything for several seconds.

While he was still recovering, I followed Duskull back into the cave.

Very deep inside, there was a large room lit by torches with what appeared to be a crude coffin inside. "My home," said Duskull. Probably should have guessed that a ghost would be living in a coffin. "Don't worry, there's no body inside. I checked."

"Hey, if the tomb fits… Wait, how are we still talking outside of my mind?"

The little ghost laughed at that one and then led me to the sarcophagus. "The Reaper Cloth is in here."

"You didn't answer my question."

"I can form a telepathic connection with someone that I've already talked to. It's useful."

"I'll bet. Look, I don't think that I can take the lid off this thing…"

"Don't worry, there's a lever."

It flew over to one wall and pulled the all-too-convenient stone lever. The top of the sarcophagus lifted up on four stone struts, revealing a piece of cloth.

I walked over to it and, double-checking with Duskull, picked it up. It was thin and waved in the slightest breeze. "I really don't want to tear this."

"Don't worry, it's a lot stronger than it looks. You can't tear it by normal means, only supernatural."

"Gotcha." _Not really._

I folded it up and put it in my pocket. It seemed to be able to fold as small as I needed it to.

With Duskull as my guide, I managed to get out of the cave. For some reason, the ghost hid in my backpack. I decided to Google Duskull when I got home, maybe find out how to train it.

On the ride home, Duskull stayed out of sight of Whismur, who Jacob was still trying to calm down. I texted Jacob what happened so that he wouldn't be surprised when a ghost popped out of my backpack.

Don't ask me how, but Duskull used the texting screen on my phone to tell me that he was hungry. I mentioned that we should stop for dinner somewhere, and that seemed to help cheer Whismur up.

Dad stopped at a fast-food place and we got burgers to go. I ordered twice what I normally eat and tossed the rest in the back of the car with my backpack. I checked back five minutes later and the bag was empty, except for the wrappers which were somehow still folded like they contained a burger. Duskull used the texting screen to say "Is there more?"

Not that I'm complaining about bringing a rare Pokémon home with me, but this guy is kind of creepy and a bit of a d-bag.

Okay, REALLY creepy and a LOT of a d-bag.

Once home, I got on my computer and looked up everything related to Duskull and the Reaper Cloth.

Duskull itself is more of a defensive Pokémon, which is somewhat unique among ghost-type Pokémon. That told me that I should train its toughness instead of its attack power like I would with Torchic, who was its opposite in that respect. I also saw that it was a very, very hard Pokémon to train thanks to the small number of attacking moves that it can learn and the fact that it is extremely uncomfortable in direct sunlight.

That means that the only time I can train it is at night.

I sensed the temperature drop above my right shoulder. "So, you're researching me?"

"Yep. If I am going to level you up as quickly as possible, I need to know what I'm dealing with. There's not much related to your attacks, but from what I can see you don't know too many damaging moves."

"I could have told you that, you know."

"I've never been able to talk to a Pokémon before, so I didn't know what you _could_ tell me."

"I can tell you that there's no time like the present."

"Where'd you get this attitude?"

"Comes with the territory of being able to float right through a Hyper Beam fired by an angry Ursaring. Also, being alone for the last few centuries kind of sucks."

"Point made." It really was an excellent point. Hopefully evolution would fix that condescending attitude of his.

"Well, are we going to start training, or what?"

I sighed. "Might as well."

I put my backpack back on so that Mom wouldn't freak out at the sight of a floating skull and went to the back yard. Duskull seemed pretty happy about the darkness, but for me, I needed the night vision glasses that Dad had told us to keep in order to see him clearly.

"Okay, I guess the best thing I can do right now is see what attacks you can do." I pulled out the list of low-level Duskull attacks. "Leer?"

"Really? Do I look that young to you?"

"Actually you look dead."

"Fair enough. No, I can't use Leer."

"Night shade?"

"Uh, duh?" It fired a blast of Night Shade from its eyes into the ground. It didn't look all that strong, but we had learned why in class. Its power level was directly related to the level of the Pokémon using it. Excellent for getting past defenses at higher levels, but almost completely useless now.

"So, I'm assuming that the other three are Disable, Foresight, and Astonish?"

Suddenly, even with the glasses, I couldn't see it. Then it reappeared without warning right in front of my face. "SURPRISE!"

I stumbled back before I realized that it was laughing at me. "Dude, that…"

"…Yes?"

"…was actually not bad. Just… try to avoid using your moves on me, will you?"

"Okay. Can you do anything other than just see what moves I know?"

"With such a limited move pool, not really. Honestly I'd have to battle you for you to get real experience."

"Well, with the Reaper Cloth here instead of in that cave I can actually go out and do it myself, so don't worry about me."

Then I thought of something. "Actually, I think I can work on something with you."

"Like what?"

I thought for a moment. "Your Astonish attack involves you vanishing completely. Night Shade doesn't take that long to use. Use your Astonish attack to disappear and then reappear at random places around that place you already shot at and fire Night Shade whenever you reappear. Don't stay visible for long, just long enough to use Night Shade."

"Sounds interesting… okay, I'll try it."

Duskull vanished completely before I saw him appearing like a multitude of ghosts around that one spot, blasting it over and over again.

"Good enough!" I called out. "Love the result, it's scary as hell."

"Yeah, that's kind of what I go for. Floating skull, that whole deal."

"I figured.

"Anything else?"

"Nah, just don't go popping into my parents' room. They'd freak."

"Aaaaaaaannnnnnnnd…?" it drawled.

"Do you want to stay or not?"

Now it just looked disappointed. "But scaring people is fun…"

"NOT them!"

"Fine, I'll just go terrify some poor, harmless Rattata."

"If you did that to my parents, they would be anything but poor and hamless."

"Fighting-type attacks do not affect Ghost-types."

"Their attacks would be Dark-type, and how do you know so much about types?"

"Good point, and I can read a book by passing through it. You have a book on Pokémon battling in your room."

"Stay out of my stuff."

I got the feeling that if it had a tongue, it would have stuck it out at me before it flew off to cause some mischief.

The next morning, I woke up to the sunshine coming lazily through my window, the Pidgey chirping in the trees, and an angry red head squeezing the life out of my neck.

Typical day in the neighborhood.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT TORCHIC WAS A FIRE-TYPE?!"

I barely managed to squeak out "Air… Need air…"

The vice clamping down on my throat suddenly disappeared. As my brain began to operate under the influence of this newly-discovered element called Oxygen, I slowly realized that she had discovered what kind of Pokémon Torchic really was.

Then came the explosion that I knew was going to come.

"KYLE TURNER, HOW DARE YOU GO BEHIND MY BACK AND GET A FIRE TYPE?! THOSE ARE DANGEROUS POKÉMON THAT COULD KILL YOU IF THEY _SNEEZED_! I AM NOT HAVING TORCHIC IN MY HOUSE! YOU WILL TAKE THAT INFERNAL BIRD AND…"

"AND WHAT?!"

Mom stopped. "Did you just raise your voice to…"

By this time I was fully awake, and thoroughly pissed off. NO ONE insults my Pokémon, and I knew just how to get that message across to her.

"If you want to talk about this, we'll talk through our Pokémon."

That shocked her enough to get her to stop. "What?!"

"Three-on-three battle, ground of your choosing. I beat you, I keep Torchic. You beat me, Torchic leaves."

"Fine. Just remember, I'm a former Gym Leader. There's no way you can beat me."

"Noted."

Mom went to grab her Pokéballs. I knew that she took her Pokémon out to visit all the time, but rarely did she ever train them. Come to think of it, I don't think she's battled for years.

Granted, I probably shouldn't have let her choose the battleground.

The pool really sucks for most of my Pokémon.

* * *

So, Kyle doesn't get a Ghost this early in the story and his mother is pissed and about to unleash the power of her evolved Gym-class Water Pokémon on her son. Typical day in the neighborhood of this story.

In case anyone's taken a liking to Torchic... well, sorry about the cliff hanger.

Also, just in case you're wondering what's up with the chapter titles, read them in order, starting from the title. They make a lot more sense that way.


	6. And Determination

Yes, long update time. Hence why I'm releasing three at once.

* * *

Yep, it's the pool. Time to get creative.

Dad and

"I'll let you take the first shot," I said.

"Fine. Let's go, Staryu!"

Mom threw her Pokéball and out came the familiar brown star with a red gem for a face.

"Okay, and I'll use Kabuto!"

Kabuto seemed really happy to be swimming, and he was definitely ready to get to battling.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Why use a Pokémon whose moves I don't know?

Well, surprise. I had taken him out last night after the little session with Duskull. He knows Scratch, Harden, Absorb, and Leer. I know, not very exciting or powerful.

"Harden!"

"Staryu, use Rapid Spin!"

Staryu spun through the water at Kabuto, knocking it out of the way, but Kaubto managed to cover himself with a red sheen before he hit the wall.

"Absorb!"

"Staryu, get away from it with Rapid Spin!"

Staryu was fast, but Kabuto for some reason was faster. No idea if it was the fact that he was in the water or what, but in the confined areas of the pool, Kabuto caught up to Starmie and grabbed on, draining it for all it was worth before the starfish managed to spin my Pokémon off. Kabuto looked completely refreshed while Starmie actually looked tired.

"Water Gun!" shouted Mom.

"Dodge it!"

Kabuto dodged the bulk of the underwater blast, but not all of it. I suddenly remembered that Kabuto was not as strong against Water attacks as other Water Pokémon, thanks to his Rock half.

"Use Absorb again!"

"Staryu, use Water Gun to get Kabuto out of the water!"

_Why would you do… oh, the speed._ Kabuto may be faster in the water, but Staryu is fully capable of battling on land with all of its abilities. If that happened, there was no way my Pokémon with no ranged attacks could win. I had to do something fast. "Kabuto, return! Beast, roll out!"

I whispered my thanks to Kabuto as he returned to his Pokéball. Beast stood at the edge of the pool, roaring his challenge at Staryu. "BUUUUUUULLLLBA!"

"Staaaar," replied Staryu.

"Beast, Staryu is a rock!"

"Bulba," he nodded to me, understanding.

"Staryu is not a rock, she's a star… what?!"

In the middle of that sentence, Beast had grabbed Staryu with one vine and tanned its hide with the other.

"Now, Razor Leaf!"

"Buullllbaaaa!"

"Staryu, use Water Gun!"

Staryu's blast of water cut right through the Razor Leaf attack, knocking Bulbasaur over, but also causing Bulbasaur to drop the unfortunate Pokémon. Staryu landed hard, but managed to get up.

"Tackle!"

This time, the gem blinked. Staryu was down and out for the count.

"Staryu is unable to battle, Bulbasaur is the winner!" said Dad, acting as the ref.

"You win this round, but I was going easy on you by using Staryu. This time, you won't win. Golduck, let's go!"

I had heard the story of Mom's failed Psyduck. Turns out, when it finally evolved, it was more powerful than the average Golduck.

Crap.

"Golduck, use Confusion!"

Stronger swear word than crap.

Golduck's eyes glowed, and the water in the pool came up in a big swirl before crashing down on Beast and myself. The force of the water slammed us against the side of the house. When I finally picked myself up, I could see Beast struggling to make it back to his feet. _Damn, that Golduck is _POWERFUL_!_

"Beast, I think you need to come back." I grabbed his ball from my belt and called my little buddy home.

"Kyle, you can't beat Golduck. And if you do, you know the other Pokémon I have available to me. You can't win. I'm sorry, but Torchic is too dangerous…"

Too dangerous?! You just slammed me into a wall! "As if Golduck isn't!"

"What did you say?"

Well, I'm already in a hole. Might as well keep digging. "Your Golduck just slammed me and Bulbasaur into the house! If I had landed differently, I could have broken something, including my head! It's not the Pokémon that's dangerous, it's the trainer. Golduck is too powerful for my Pokémon, and you used him just so that you would win. I understand using powerful Pokémon, but that is ridiculous! I know you take in Water Pokémon all the time, so I know you have Pokémon that would be equals to my Pokémon. You can't beat me fairly, so you use Pokémon I can't beat!"

"Don't you know what a Gym Leader does? We're SUPPOSED to use Pokémon you can't beat!"

"One, you aren't a Gym Leader anymore. Two, we both know that Gym Leaders scale the power of their Pokémon to the power of the people they face. You know exactly how powerful my Pokémon are and exactly how long I've been training them. I asked you for a chance to prove that Torchic isn't dangerous, that I wouldn't be hurt by him. What do you give me? Bruises on my back, a cut on my head, a scrape on my arm, and no chance to prove myself. If you're not willing to even hear my side of the story, then fine. You win the battle. As promised, Torchic goes, but I'm going with him. Have a nice life."

"You're not going anywhere, young man! You're staying…"

"After what you just pulled, you don't have the right to tell me what to do anymore. I'll be out of here in an hour."

Leaving Mom completely shocked, I went back up to my room and started packing my backpacking pack.

"Dude, are you serious about this?" asked Jacob. I had never heard him come in.

I looked him in the eye. "I expected Mom to use powerful Pokémon to give herself an edge. I even expected her to use an evolved Pokémon or two, but Golduck was the third Pokémon she ever caught. He's powerful enough for the Elite Four challenge, and she used him against a brand-new trainer and young Pokémon. Not cool."

Jacob was silent for a few minutes, then started helping me pack. "Don't worry, bra. I got your back. Crash at my place until the tournament, and hopefully after that we'll be on our way."

"Win or lose, we're going."

He looked back at me, grinning like a madman. "SWEET!"

My bag packed with everything useful and my trunk bulging with my other stuff, I was just about to leave when Dad showed up. "I have a contact in the Pokémon industry. Said he'd help you two out, and he's interested in studying that Duskull once I explained how and why you picked him up." He handed me a piece of paper. On it was a name, number, and an address in Michigan. I didn't look much harder than that. "He's expecting your call, don't keep him waiting. Use the computer at the Pokémon center in town."

"All right, thanks."

Dad nodded to me. "If you need anything, just call me or him."

We shook hands, and I drove to Jacob's house. His mom had been a bit of a trainer in her younger years, so she understood when I explained what had happened and said that I could stick around until the tournament, with the condition that I help with chores and that sort of thing. A no-rent bed for the price of a week of chores? Sold.

But first, I figured that I should give the guy a call. I made a detour to the Pokémon Center in Valley Springs, a pretty quiet place compared to other Pokémon centers I'd been in. That's when I finally looked at the name on the note.

"Professor Oak"

_Did Dad just… how did he know… wow, okay, let's see what happens._

I punched in the numbers on the computer and waited for it to connect. Within seconds, the face of the famous Pokémon Professor appeared on the screen. "Ah, you must be Kyle. Your father told me you'd be calling. He also mentioned that you have a Duskull in your possession."

"Yes sir."

He chuckled. "Oh, please just call me 'Professor.' Anyway, I was wondering if you could send that Duskull over to me so that I can talk with it. Have you never used the Pokémon transfer system?" He must have noticed the hesitation on my face.

"No, but it's not technically mine."

Professor Oak's brow furrowed at that. "What do you mean?"

I relayed the story of how Duskull and I met and my agreement to not capture him until he was fully evolved.

"Well, this is quite unusual," said the Professor. "I've certainly heard of the Reaper Cloth. In fact, it's somewhat commonly found in European tombs where Duskull are known to be common, but this physical connection with the cloth… that is new information, and to the best of my knowledge, no Duskull has ever communicated directly with its trainer in words instead of simple emotions and pictures. On top of that, your father neglected to mention your deal with Duskull, which in itself is highly unusual, although that at least is not unheard of. This matter is extremely interesting to me, and I would love to have a chat with Duskull myself, although now is probably not a good time for me to discuss this with him. Do you think you could bring Duskull to my lab any time soon? I'll make it worth your while."

That threw me for a loop. Drive to Michigan? I looked at Jacob, who was eagerly nodding 'yes'.

Well, why not? "Sure, right after the tournament," I said.

"Excellent! Be sure to call me before you get here. Oh, and one other thing. Would you mind telling me the makeup of your current teams?"

"I have a Torchic, Bulbasaur, Sandshrew, and Kabuto, and Jacob has a Mudkip, Yanma, Ekans, and Whismur."

"Hmm… those are fairly diverse teams, though both could use a little variety. Let me tell you what I can do. Once you get here, I will have some Pokémon for you to choose from. I used to hand out starter Pokémon to young trainers, and once in a while I revive the tradition. Consider it my way of thanking you for bringing Duskull to me."

"You have a deal Professor," said Jacob. "Also, if we decide to drive, is there a place we could park a car where it won't drive away on us?"

"Ah, so you are planning on walking from Gym to Gym then?"

I looked at Jacob. "Walk or bike?"

Jacob shrugged. "Probably biking. We want to catch Pokémon, and driving is hardly conducive to catching. Biking would let us cover more distance than walking, and we'd still be able to stop any time we wanted."

"I admire that. The walking trainer, or even the biking trainer, is a lost art these days," said Professor Oak. "I only know of one group of trainers recently that's walked as much of the Challenge as possible, and one of them became the League Champion last year. As for your vehicle, feel free to park it here. There are usually plenty of parking spots, since I don't get many visitors here."

"Biking it is," I said. "Thanks, Professor."

"Despite some strange rumor going around that I am too busy to help young trainers, I do try as much as is possible. I'll expect you two sometime next week, then?"

"Sure thing, Professor," said Jacob.

"Very well. Good luck in the tournament, you two!"

"Thanks again," I said.

"You're welcome. Buy now!"

With that, our first meeting with a famous person came to an end.

After that, training got serious. The backyard of Jacob's house turned into a training ground for me and Jacob, and by the end of the week, it looked like it had gone through a war.

Kabuto, thankfully, learned a new move: Mud Shot. Now I would at least be able to shoot from a distance. He also got slightly more agile on land, for which I was also grateful. Also, his speed in the water gave him a new name: Rocket.

Torchic didn't learn any new moves, but he did learn to use Rock Slide and Flamethrower in a new combo that I decided to call Magma Storm.

Beast picked up Sleep Powder and Take Down, a set that I really liked with his Vine Whip. He also started learning how to dodge Roll Out by jumping with his vines, something else that was awesome.

Storm also picked up a new move, Rapid Spin. Combined with Swords Dance, I felt like it would be a great combo.

Duskull… was Duskull. No other way to put it. Sometimes he was around, other times he wasn't. I don't think he learned any new moves, but then again, I hadn't been working with him that much, so I don't know.

I know Jacob was working with Mudkip a lot, but I couldn't see if he learned any new moves. Honestly, though, we sort of wanted to keep a few things to ourselves, so I didn't ask.

I did see that Yanma had gotten moves like Jagger, since Jacob asked to borrow Rocket to train Yanma's ability to dodge Mud Bomb and other like attacks, and the bug had definitely learned to use its sound attacks better.

Speaking of sound waves, Whismur had probably woken the neighbors once or twice. I'm not sure what moves Jacob had taught it, but seriously, power down that base cannon.

Last but hardly least, Ekans was getting scarier by the day. That spring move Dad had mentioned was making him much harder to hit. I learned later that there was an actual move called "Spring," but this wasn't even close to the videos I had seen of the pros. Also, a jumping snake with a mouth full of poisonous fangs is pretty intimidating, even without the Scary Face move itself.

I'm had no idea how well we were going to do at the tournament, but I knew for a fact that we were competitive.

The night before the tournament, Jacob, myself, and about fifteen of our friends who regularly compete in the tournament engaged in our pre-tournament ritual: a bonfire way out in the sticks. Before, I had just tagged along because they were my friends in school and because I could understand their trainer talk. Now, I was actually competing, and a lot of them wanted to know what I had. Common practice at the bonfire was to show off what Pokémon you had so that they could have a good time, too. Mudkip was already friends with some of the veterans of the tournament, and soon our new Pokémon got over their shyness and joined in. Rocket got a lot of attention, but he wasn't the only one. Apparently one of our friends, named Mike, had recently gotten a Scyther while on a trip to Florida, though he said that he wouldn't be using it since he hadn't had enough time to work with it, and Russ had gotten a Growlithe from a cousin who had recently made a trip to Japan. Duskull also decided to show up and scare everyone. It took a lot of convincing to get everyone to agree not to capture him.

After a night of just relaxing by the roaring bonfire with our Pokémon, as well as the occasional Pokémon battles that result from trainers just looking at each other, including a battle with Rocket against a Geodude that didn't see its Absorb coming, it was back home for everyone to get plenty of sleep, because we all knew what the next day would bring.

The Tournament.

* * *

No, Kyle's not getting any help from the home front. Yes, Kyle's starting out in the same state as Tim. No, he won't be following the same Gym path, given that he's got a year and a half. Yes, he'll be training his pokemon more, considering that he won't be able to get Team Rocket mega battles into his schedule. I'll be focusing more on the growth of a trainer's bond with his pokemon than, say, a plot like in the games. Welcome to the world of the normal trainer.


	7. But That is Not Enough

Here's the second chapter I promised. Again, sorry about the update time.

* * *

I woke up the next morning feeling wide-awake and ready to go. I fed my Pokémon, grabbed my lucky Vans hat and keys, and drove Jacob and I over to the fairgrounds where the tournament would be held.

We got there about 7:30 with the tournament set to begin at 8:00. We checked in at the front gate and registered our four Pokémon each. Duskull had come along for the show, but he agreed to mostly stay in my backpack. We were then directed down to the Pokémon Arena, which is pretty much a big dirt arena with metal fencing around it. For now, it had been subdivided into three smaller arenas so that the primary rounds could go faster. We sat down at a table with Russ and Mike and waited for the opening ceremony to start, while stuffing our face… I mean, enjoying some of the free food.

Don't judge us. The price is right and we're hungry teens.

I had just finished my third plate when I heard "_Ladies and gentlemen, the brackets have been posted. Let the 32nd annual Calaveras County Pokémon Tournament begin!_" I guess we had missed the entire announcement thanks to our eating habits. It didn't matter anyway since we had all seen this tournament every year. We threw our plates away and checked out the brackets. I was in the same quarter as Mike and the same half as Tony, but the only way any of us would meet Jacob was in the finals.

There were 64 contestants entered, so that meant that to win, we would have to win six battles. I was the second trainer to battle in Arena 2, so I took a seat in the bleachers to take notes. Mike was third up in Arena 1, Tony was fifth in Arena 2, and Jacob was all the way down the list at 10th in Arena 3. Because there were so many contestants and so little time, the first battle was a one-on-one battle. After that it increased to two-on-two and then, from the quarter-finals onwards, three-on-three. I was especially paying attention to the trainers in Arena 3. One of them was using a Rattata, but the other was using, strangely enough, a Machop. That one wasn't even close. Arena two was moving a little slowly. Both contestants had entered, don't ask me why, Kakunas. I like Beedrill battles a lot. Two high-energy Pokémon dueling it out in mid-air is always a good show, but Kakuna battling feels like using a power drill on your skull. Finally, one of them evolved into Beedrill and that ended the battle pretty quickly.

I went down to the arena for my turn to battle. I checked in with the judge and stepped onto the dirt. My opponent was probably still in Middle School. She picked a Pokéball and I did the same.

"Begin!" shouted the announcer. We threw our Pokéballs at the same time.

"Beast, let's rumble!" I shouted.

"Pidgey, go!" she shouted.

Theoretically, Pidgey should win, but with Beast, theory only ever works in theory.

"Beast, grab that Pidgey!"

"Bulba saaaaaaauuuur!" Beast quickly reached out with Vine Whip and grabbed the Pidgey.

"Slam it!" Pidgey hit the ground hard.

"Pidgey, get free!" shouted the girl.

"Beast, Sleep Powder!" Pidgey had no choice but to take the Sleep Powder full in the face as Bulbasaur held it directly over its bulb. It was snoring in seconds.

I looked at the girl. "We can continue if you want, but there's no point in making Pidgey suffer any more than it has to."

She was shocked, but nodded. Bulbasaur released the snoring Pidgey and the girl recalled it to her Pokéball. "Trainer number 10 has conceded the battle. Bulbasaur wins!" I could hear a few claps from the audience, but I wasn't sure if they were for me.

I actually felt bad for that girl. Pidgey was probably her first Pokémon ever, or close to it, and I had just wiped it with a Pokémon that should have been an easy win for her.

I went back to my seat, getting a couple of high-fives from friends along the way for winning my first tournament battle. I got back just in time to see Mike's battle. His Totodile's Water Gun made short work of the Zigzagoon that he went up against.

After that we had a little break so we started watching trainers and taking notes of any unusual Pokémon that we saw. Nothing really came up except for Trainer 19 who had won with his Sudowoodo. How the hell he had gotten one of the African stone trees I have NO idea.

Then, it was Russ's turn to battle. He sent out his Treecko and was served with a Torchic. I could see Russ's face droop, but he didn't look like he was about to give up. "Treecko, use Pound!"

"Torchic, Scratch!"

_Wait, why not Flamethrower or Ember? Or even Peck?_

It became apparent that even though they were working well as a team, Torchic was still young and so hadn't learned a lot of the moves that you might expect Torchic to know.

Treecko used its tail as a springboard to launch itself towards Torchic, landing with its tail slamming into the tiny bird before dashing away before Torchic could land its own attack. This isn't Russ's first time in the tournament, and not even with Treecko, so he's had a lot of time to train it.

"Torchic, Focus Energy!" shouted the other trainer.

"Treecko, Quick Attack!" Treecko's attack landed before Torchic managed to get off its Focus Energy move, knocking the chick on the ground, but Torchic still managed to get up and gain an orange aura.

"Quick Attack again!" The wood gecko sped in as fast as it could, trailing a yellow outline.

"Scratch!"

This time, Torchic's Scratch actually managed to knock Treecko over. "Dude, if Russ isn't careful, he'll get wiped by that Torchic," Mike mentioned.

"How so? That Torchic doesn't even know Ember," I said.

"Focus Energy just quadrupled Torchic's chances of getting in a critical hit by pumping up its will to win. Even giving the power difference between the two of them, I'd say that Torchic actually has a chance if it lands four more crit hits."

"Doesn't seem very likely. Treecko's pretty fast and hard to hit, and that's not even including Quick Attack's speed."

Mike shrugged. "I never said that the odds were on Torchic's side. I just said that there's a chance. In the hands of a good trainer, almost any Pokémon has at least a chance against almost any other Pokémon, just like Beast and that Pidgey."

I nodded and went back to watching the battle. Russ seemed determined to beat Torchic with pure speed and Quick Attack, and before we knew it, Torchic had landed two more crits thanks to Russ's impulsiveness.

That's not to say that Treecko hadn't been getting in its fair share of attacks. Torchic was looking pretty beat-up too, but its trainer was actually doing a good job getting it to dodge most of the attacks coming its way, given that they were the same every single time.

"Quick Attack again!"

"Torchic, dodge right then use Focus Energy again!"

"Uh oh," said Mike. "That's not good."

"Wait, didn't you say that that move quadrupled Torchic's chances of getting a crit?"

"That's the one thing Treecko has going for it at this point, other than just being more trained. Focus Energy's returns diminish the second time you use it. Now it only raises it to even odds between a crit and a non-crit instead of quadrupling the one-in-four chances it had before."

"That's still not good odds."

"Not for Treecko, no."

Treecko came in like it had done so many times before, but Torchic dodged and gained its orange aura again.

"Treecko, Quick Attack again!"

"Torchic, dodge and Scratch!"

Treecko charged exactly as it had done probably fifteen times before, and Torchic scored another crit.

"This next attack decides the match," said Mike. "If Russ doesn't do something different, Torchic has even odds of getting in another crit. If he does, then it's possible that Russ could win."

Russ seemed to be thinking about that, but he didn't do what we all thought he should.

"Treecko, Quick Attack!"

"Torchic, do it again!"

Treecko came in fast, trailing yellow. "Here it comes…" said Mike.

Then at the last moment, Russ yelled "Pound!"

Instead of shoulder-charging the chick, like Torchic and its trainer had been expecting, Treecko flipped into a Pound, catching the chick Pokémon off-guard. Treecko came up, breathing hard. Torchic, however, didn't.

"Torchic is unable to battle, Treecko is the winner!"

We stood up and clapped for Russ. After he got Treecko healed up, he came back up and joined us, leaving Treecko out of its Pokéball.

"Dude, what was the idea with the Quick Attacks?" I asked.

"The illusion of predictability," he said. "It's how I roll."

"The illusion of what?" I asked.

Russ just shrugged. "I'll explain it to you after our match."

_Oh yeah, we have to face each other at some point._

With Treecko chatting up Whismur, we continued to watch battles. Some were won by a landslide, others were close until the end, and, of course, there were the double-unevolved-Bug-Pokémon battles that just made us want to take a nap. Usually they ended in one Pokémon evolving and beating the other. The two Wurmples that evolved into Silcoons at the same time was less than exciting, but when Trainer 37's Nincada evolved into Ninjask, it did something very surprising. After Ninjask left its short stay in a cocoon, the cocoon itself took on an evolutionary light. When it was done, it still looked like the cocoon, but this time it was a Pokémon. I heard "Shedinja" being tossed around as the name for it. I was wondering if Shedinja would be allowed to participate in the tournament since, technically, it was part of the Pokémon that had been entered, but the announcers said that the standard Pokémon League ruling on this evolution would hold and Shedinja would not be allowed to participate. I heard some trainers sigh in relief, although I didn't understand why.

Finally, it was Jacob's turn to battle. His Whismur got served with a Raticate. Big ouch from the very beginning.

"Whismur, Uproar!"

"Raticate, Hyper Fang!"

Raticate charged at Whismur, seemingly ignoring the Hyper Voice attack, and leapt into the air, jaws gaping wide open. Whismur froze when it saw that attack and stopped using its own.

"Whismur, go left!" Jacob managed to snap Whismur out of its stun and get it moving. Raticate landed on all four paws, and looked at Whismur like it was hungry for mauve Whisper Pokémon.

"Raticate, use Quick Attack to get in close, then use Hyper Fang!" said the other trainer.

"Whismur, use Howl, then go straight into Uproar!" said Jacob.

_Howl… why Howl?_ Whismur barely managed to get off Howl, but that was not very helpful as Raticate managed to land its Hyper Fang.

Suddenly, the Uproar attack was all the worse for Whismur getting legitimately scared and badly hurt.

You know that sound a baby makes while it's crying right after it takes a breath? Yeah, Whismur didn't need to breathe through its mouth so that sound was the only one coming from its tiny mouth. Even in the stands, I had to hold my ears.

By the time Whismur finally stopped, Raticate was obviously hurting just as much as Whismur was. _You and me both, rat._

"Whismur, use Pound!"

"Raticate, get away from it with Quick Attack!"

Whismur lashed out at Raticate with an ear, but Raticate managed to dodge it and return to its original side of the battlefield, cradling its very sensitive ears. It was obvious to most people in the audience that both Pokémon were on their last legs, and the next attack would likely be the final attack.

"Whismur, Uproar!"

"Raticate, Quick Attack!"

Quick Attack might be one of the fastest attacks in existence, but even it isn't faster than the speed of sound if Whismur got off its Uproar attack. Raticate raced in, a faint golden streak following it. Instants before it would have taken out Whismur for the win, Whismur's tiny mouth opened…

…and a sound like all the demons of Hell screeching at once came forth. Raticate veered off-course, and headed right for one of the fences, running as fast as its little legs would carry it, straight into one of the supports. The rat slumped to the ground, completely out of it.

"Raticate is unable to battle. Whismur is the winner!" said the ref. Jacob and Whismur shared a hug on the field before returning to our seats, Whismur still out.

"Jacob, what was that noise that came out of Whismur at the end?" I asked.

"What?" Jacob pulled two earplugs from his ears. _Oh, so that's how he's still alive. I guess I should probably get some of those at some point._

"I said, what was that noise that Whismur made at the end?"

"Pretty sure it was Supersonic. Little guy must have been so scared that it just accidentally learned it."

"Well, awesome job, man! Oh, something else I was meaning to ask. Why did you use Howl? You know as well as I do that that only boosts physical attacks, and Whismur's attacks are all special."

"Pound isn't, and Raticate has to get in close. If Whismur had managed to land a Pound, it would have hurt that big, ugly rat pretty bad. Everybody has a style. Mine is preparing for every possibility, even those that I might not ever see."

I nodded and we went back to our note-taking. The only other Pokémon that stood out was with Trainer 63. It started as a Whismur, which was somewhat interesting on its own even though Jacob had one, but evolved into a Loudred mid-battle. That was enough to bring its trainer victory with a surprise Hyper Voice attack. I was glad that I wouldn't have to face it until the final battle if it made it that far, since I wasn't sure if I had any Pokémon that were strong enough to take it on.

And with that, Round 1 was over.

* * *

Not all of Kyle's battles are going to have clutch endings. A properly-trained pokemon will absolutely dumpster on a poorly-trained pokemon. I'll try to make sure at least one battle is interesting per chapter.


End file.
